Saturday, July 22, 2006, 22:37
Slurpy-Durpy. . .
It's been a long time since I've been licked by a cow.
I've never been licked by a Brown Swiss, though.
Was today.
I interviewed a farm family a few miles west of here for a story for the newspaper. They have six children. Four of them are in 4-H. One has already graduated from high school. Their son will start 4-H next year. The county fair will be held in August, and the newspaper wanted a story to highlight a 4-H family as a way to preview the fair.
The cow in question, a Brown Swiss yearling heifer named Shimmer, loves to lick people.
I reached up to pet her face, and out came this incredibly long, slurpy, wet, rough black tongue. It was automatic. Reach up to pet her. Out comes the tongue.
I ended up getting licked quite a few times.
I don't know why, but there is something sooooooooo endearing about a cow who wants to lick you! And this little Brown Swiss girl was a real sweetheart. There are three of them, actually -- Shimmer, Shine and Sheila. They are all full sisters. And all were harvested embryos from a single cow born to surrogate mothers.
The father of the family says that Brown Swiss "are just that way." I wouldn't know. We didn't have Brown Swiss when I was growing up. I do know that Guernseys and Jerseys like to lick, though. And some Holsteins, too.
So far, that's been the highlight of my day -- getting licked by a cow. That and the fact that Charlie is feeling a tiny bit better today than he was yesterday. He was able to walk down to the neighbor's last night, a half mile one way, and didn't have to sit down once to rest either down there or on the way back. And we walked down to the other neighbor's this afternoon (a quarter mile in the shade) and he trotted comfortably most of the way, even though it is 90 degrees in the shade this afternoon.
LeAnn R. Ralph
Friday, July 21, 2006, 20:43
Direct Hit
It strikes me that the horseradish has taken a few direct hits.
Direct hits from kittens, that is.
The horseradish, it would appear, has become a favorite toy for the five kittens in the barn that I still have to find homes for.
The horseradish is behind the barn. There is only one plant. My dad planted it about 25 years ago, and it has been hanging on all this time. I would like to transplant it to a more cultivated spot, but I am afraid I will kill it moving it. Dad really liked horseradish. He got a recipe from his son-in-law's German mother (Dad was half German) for fresh ground horseradish with sugar and cream. It was delicious. I like horseradish too -- although sometimes it does not like me.
Anyway, the kittens like to go out under the barn wall and play beneath the wild grapevine. It's only a few feet from there to the horseradish plant with its dangling leaves that flutter in the breeze -- which must just be *too much* temptation for the kittens.
That's why the horseradish leaves are so tattered and torn.
I have a feeling, though, that Dad wouldn't mind the kittens playing with his horseradish. He liked kittens, too.
One of these years, I am just going to have to jump right in and move the horseradish plant. And hope that it survives. Until then, I know it's going to remain a favorite toy for the little kittens in the barn.
The corn, by the way, also is a favorite toy for the kittens. Corn has dangling, fluttering leaves, too.
And they love the box elder tree by the garden. In the evening, when we sit out in the yard, we watch them chasing each other around and then up the box elder tree.
Test Results ~~ The vet called me this morning. Two of the three tick tests are back from the bloodwork done on Wednesday (the Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever test won't be back for a while because it has to be sent to a lab in Texas).
Charlie has both Lyme disease and Ehrlichiosis (another tick disease with similar symptoms to Lyme disease). The vet also thinks, though, because Charlie got so sick while he was taking the preferred antibiotic for Lyme and Ehrlichiosis (doxycycline) that he also has an infection in his joints from the abscess. So, Charlie really has three things going on -- Lyme disease, Ehrlichiosis and an infection in his joints.
No wonder Charlie does not feel very well!
The treatment for now is to continue on the antibiotic for the joint infection and to continue the pain medication. Charlie is sicker from the joint infection, it would seem, than he is from the Lyme and Ehrlichiosis, seeing as he was taking doxycycline for almost three weeks to knock down the tick diseases. When he is finished with the antibiotic for the joint infection, he will have to go back to taking the doxycycline to clear up the Lyme and Ehrlichiosis.
The good news is that Charlie is feeling a tiny bit better today. He came down to the barn with me this morning. And he went for a walk about halfway around the hayfield. He has not come down to the barn or walked in the hayfield since Monday.
Halfway around the field, though, it got to be too much for him, so he sat down to rest. I told him if he couldn't go any farther, I would get the pickup truck and take him home. He rested for a while, then he was able to walk back to the yard. Slowly. But he was able to walk.
LeAnn R. Ralph
